Parchment recalled for T&T clash

KINGSTON, JAMAICA - Sidelined West Indies batsman Brenton Parchment has been called to Jamaica's squad to face Trinidad & Tobago in the Regional four-day match at Sabina Park, starting Saturday.

Parchment, 30, is fresh from a stint plying his trade on the Australian club circuit. He replaces 27-year-old attacking batsman Xavier Marshall in the only change to the 13-man squad that trounced the Leeward Islands in the previous round of matches.

Left-handed opener Simon Jackson retains his place, despite a wretched run this season.

Star batsmen Christopher Gayle and Marlon Samuels, though free of West Indies duties, were not considered due to their contractual agreements to play in the Indian Premier League, which starts early next month.

Jamaica, led by captain Tamar Lambert and coached by Junior Bennett, are looking for a historic sixth-straight hold on the four-day title.

They have won all three matches in the 2013 campaign and are on the verge of progression to the semi-final stage.

Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago will clash again in the Super50 competition at the same venue on April 4.

Meanwhile, Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Manager Omar Khan is confident that his team can push five-time defending champions Jamaica all the way when two of the region's finest clash at Sabina Park.

Jamaica have won three matches in as many outings, while Trinidad & Tobago have won three and lost one -- a 10-wicket defeat to the Windward Islands in St Vincent -- in their four games.

The Denesh Ramdin-led Trinidadians, minus several prominent stars, arrived in the island yesterday and Khan insisted that his mostly young charges will be competitive.

"We are confident that we can come here and do well. We did well in the last three four-day games, winning all three. We beat Leeward Islands in St Kitts and we won two home games against Guyana and CCC (Combined Campuses and Colleges), so the guys are full of confidence," Khan told the Jamaica Observer at the Four Seasons Hotel.